A SOUTH Wales Welsh Mountain ram sold at Penderyn Ram Sale last Saturday is the most expensive ever.

One of five rams bred by Catherine Roberts at Penrhiwgwaith Farm, Blackwood, sold at 3,200 guineas, #800 above the previous record.

The two-year-old was bought by Dilwyn John of Danygraig, Cwm Taff, Merthyr.

Five other rams realised over 2,000 guineas and another nine made more than 1,000 guineas each.

WALES RURAL affairs minister Carwyn Jones and First Milk Ltd chief executive John Duncan will be among the speakers at a special conference organised by NFU Cymru on Friday November 21.

Entitled Agriculture - The Issues, the event at the International Pavilion in Royal Welsh Showground, Builth Wells, will look at the threats and opportunities that face modern farmers.

NFU Cymru President Peredur Hughes said the next 18 months would see the industry face major challenges as the new single farm subsidy comes into force, World Trade Organisation talks continue and farmers continue to face financial pressures.

The Conference is being supported by HSBC Agriculture.

A MID Wales farm dispersal sale that included a large pedigree Lleyn breeding flock and many unusual pieces of modern farm machinery attracted buyers from as far away as Scotland.

Auctioneer Tony Evans, whose firm Morris, Marshall & Poole conducted the sale at Scafell Farm, Newtown, said it attracted one of the largest crowds he had seen and resulted in exceptional prices.

The pedigree sheep flock, which was mainly home bred, raised a lot of interest which some sheep selling to buyers from as far as Lockerbie in Scotland.

The farm's late owner was also a great collector of farming implements. One of the most unusual was an ex-army Octoped, which sold to a local buyer for #910.

Other lots which attracted keen competition was a disc harrow that sold for #470, a three-furrow plough that went for #2,020, a Gamic sheep trailer that sold for #2,850, a Mercedes Benz Unimog that sold for #2,700, and a Muir Hill 121 'S' reg tractor that went for #5,000.